Wow - THIS is how out of touch I am. It never even occurred to me that 'I'm John Locke' would be anything other than the result of a 'What political philosopher are you?' quiz.
It also shows me how out of touch my subject matter is to the world out there. I mean, they wouldn't name a character on a TV show William Shakespeare or Charles Darwin, would they? Because people have, like, you know, HEARD of those people. But the name of probably the most important thinker of the principles at the heart of the American revolution and founding? Nah, why would anybody have heard of that guy - let's make him the bald character!!
I don't watch LOST, but I wonder if they have this character sneak in references to the importance of protecting 'life, liberty, and property'?
*Words in parentheses are nothing to do with the content of the post - just a gratuitous and paraphrased Hall and Oates reference.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I think that, a la Simpsons, the producers knew a fair number of people would get the Greg-wink (so named because I can't wink, and therefore make a quasi-spastic motion that everyone in a room would notice), and characterized him as such, particularly in that Locke (the character) loses his paralysis once on the island, therefore freeing his mind from the paralysis of his body. There are other things.
Also? There is a character called Rousseau who has lived on the island a LONG time, alone: she has reverted into something of a noble savage.
And there are other references that I will leave you to discover at some point:)
Shit - that almost makes it seem like I should be watching Lost. And I don't really want to be watching Lost!
Personally, I think Bill Watterson started it all by naming a stuffed tiger Hobbes ("Calvin" you can sort of re-imagine -- but Hobbes ain't nothin' but Hobbes). But that's what you get from a liberal arts education...
Although the Rousseau connections are obvious (noble savage, etc,), as are the Bakunin (don't think I'm spoiling anything on that one), the Locke links are non-obvious, as are those for one other prominent phi-Lost-opher. It's not clear to me that bald JL bears much resemblance to dead JL. He's certainly no empiricist, although maybe his individualism once thrust into the state of nature is what counts. I like the asides, but we're certainly not dealing with a straight-up allegory for us philosophy geeks.
Post a Comment